How Synesthesia Shapes Music and Art

The word synesthesia comes from Greek: syn (together) and aesthesia (sentation). It happens when two senses merge, like hearing sounds and automatically associating them with colors. There are multiple types of synesthesia, including:

• Grapheme-color synesthesia – Letters or numbers appear in specific colors.

• Chromesthesia – Sounds trigger the perception of colors.

• Mirror-touch synesthesia – Feeling the physical sensations that others experience, as if they were happening to you.

The way synesthetes experience colors, in particular, can be deeply personal. Some studies even suggest that certain color associations might be influenced by cultural symbolism. The  article The Psychology of Colors explores how different hues are linked to emotions and meaning, which overlaps with the way synesthetes associate colors with sound, letters, or emotions. It’s available on our site, go check it out!

This unique phenomenon affects about 4% of the population, but among artists, it seems to be even more common.

Synesthesia in Music

One of the most famous musicians with synesthesia is Frank Ocean, an American singer-songwriter known for his introspective lyrics and genre-blending sound. Ocean has sound-to-color synesthesia, meaning he perceives music as colors. The first time he fell in love, he described seeing everything in orange, which later inspired his Grammy-winning album Channel Orange. To him, the sounds on that album literally look orange.

 This might explain why colors appear so often in his lyrics: Pink + White, White Ferrari, Pink Matter... they reflect the way he experiences the world. Kanye West, another synesthetic artist, has said he "sees" his beats as different colors when producing music. “I have a condition called synesthesia where I see sounds,” West told the audience during a 2016 Ellen show. “Everything I sonically make is a painting. I see it.”

Pharrell Williams, known for hits like Happy, has also spoken about how every song he makes is tied to a specific color in his mind.

Synesthesia in Visual Arts

But synesthesia isn’t limited to music. Many famous painters have had it too, including Vincent Van Gogh. The Dutch painter, known for his swirling, vibrant brushstrokes, is believed to have experienced synesthesia. Some researchers suggest that the way he painted movement and color was influenced by the way he “heard” his surroundings through vision.

His use of colors, often emotionally charged and unconventional, might have been connected to his unique perception of the world. This idea is explored in one of News By Us’s articles Vincent William Van Gogh (November 23rd 2024), which looks into how the artist saw and translated his surroundings onto the canvas.

A Hidden Superpower?

Synesthesia is often described as a “creative superpower.” Some researchers believe it helps artists create immersive and emotionally impactful work because they experience the world in a richer, more multi-sensory way. Studies even show that synesthetes are significantly more likely to pursue creative careers. 

While synesthesia is rare, many people experience mild forms of sensory crossover. Have you ever associated a specific color with a number or felt that certain sounds have a particular taste? These subtle experiences hint at the vast and varied ways our brains can connect different senses, offering a glimpse into the synesthetic world that shapes the art and music we cherish. And as Wassily Kandinsky said:

"Color is the keyboard, the eyes are the harmonies, the soul is the piano with many strings."